Our Paleolithic ancestors were hunter-gatherers, and three schools
of thought have developed as to what their diet was like. One group
argues for a high-fat and animal-based diet supplemented with seasonal
fruits, berries, nuts, root vegetables and wild grasses. The second
argues that primitive peoples consumed assorted lean meats and large
amounts of plant foods. The third argues that our human ancestors
evolved as vegetarians.
The "lean" Paleolithic diet approach has been argued for quite
voraciously by Dr.'s Loren Cordain and Boyd Eaton in a number of
popular and professional publications (91). Cordain and Eaton are
believers in the Lipid Hypothesis of heart disease--the belief
(debunked in myth number six, above) that saturated fat and dietary
cholesterol contribute to heart disease. Because of this, and the fact
that Paleolithic peoples or their modern equivalents did/do not suffer
from heart disease, Cordain and Eaton espouse the theory that
Paleolithic peoples consumed most of their fat calories from
monounsaturated and polyunsaturated sources and not saturated fats.
Believing that saturated fats are dangerous to our arteries, Cordain
and Eaton stay in step with current establishment nutritional thought
and encourage modern peoples to eat a diet like our ancestors. This
diet, they believe, was rich in lean meats and a variety of vegetables,
but was low in saturated fat. The evidence they produce to support this
theory is, however, very selective and misleading. (92) Saturated fats
do not cause heart disease as was shown above, and our Paleolithic
ancestors ate quite a bit of saturated fat from a variety of plant and
animal sources.
From authoritative sources, we learn that prehistoric humans of the
North American continent ate such animals as mammoth, camel, sloth,
bison, mountain sheep, pronghorn antelope, beaver, elk, mule deer, and
llama (93). "Mammoth, sloth, mountain sheep, bison, and beaver are
fatty animals in the modern sense in that they have a thick layer of
subcutaneous fat, as do the many species of bear and wild pig whose
remains have been found at Paleolithic sites throughout the world."
(94) Analysis of many types of fat in game animals like antelope,
bison, caribou, dog, elk, moose, seal, and mountain sheep shows that
they are rich in saturates and monounsaturates, but relatively low in
polyunstaurates. (95)
Further, while buffalo and game animals may have lean, non-marbled
muscle meats, it is a mistake to assume that only these parts were
eaten by hunter-gatherer groups like the Native Americans who often
hunted animals selectively for their fat and fatty organs as the
following section will show.
Anthropologists/explorers such as Vilhjalmur Stefansson reported
that the Innuit and North American Indian tribes would worry when their
catches of caribou were too lean: they knew sickness would follow if
they did not consume enough fat (96). In other words, these primitive
peoples did not like having to eat lean meat.
Northern Canadian Indians would also deliberately hunt older male
caribou and elk, for these animals carried a 50-pound slab of back fat
on them which the Indians would eat with relish. This "back fat" is
highly saturated. Native Americans would also refrain from hunting
bison in the springtime (when the animals' fat stores were low, due to
scarce food supply during the winter), preferring to hunt, kill and
consume them in the fall when they were fattened up (97).
Explorer Samuel Hearne, writing in 1768, described how the Native
American tribes he came in contact with would selectively hunt caribou
just for the fatty parts:
<blockquote>
On the twenty-second of July, we met several strangers, whom we
joined in pursuit of the caribou, which were at this time so plentiful
that we got everyday a sufficient number for our support, and indeed
too frequently killed several merely for the tongues, marrow, and fat.
(98)
</blockquote>
While Cordain and Eaton are certainly correct in saying that our
ancestors ate meat, their contentions about fat intake, as well as the
type of fat consumed, are simply incorrect.
While various vegetarian and vegan authorities like to think that we
evolved as a species on a vegan or vegetarian diet, there exists little
from the realm of nutritional anthropology to support these ideas.
To begin with, in his journeys, Dr Price never once found a totally
vegetarian culture. It should be remembered that Dr. Price visited and
investigated several population groups who were, for all intents and
purposes, the 20th century equivalents of our hunter-gatherer
ancestors. Dr. Price was on the lookout for a vegetarian culture, but
he came up empty. Price stated:
<blockquote>
As yet I have not found a single group of primitive racial stock
which was building and maintaining excellent bodies by living entirely
on plant foods. (99)
</blockquote>
Anthropological data support this: throughout the globe, all
societies show a preference for animal foods and fats and our ancestors
only turned to large scale farming when they had to due to increased
population pressures (100). Abrams and other authorities have shown
that prehistoric man's quest for more animal foods was what spurred his
expansion over the Earth, and that he apparently hunted certain species
to extinction. (101)
Price also found that those peoples who, out of necessity, consumed
more grains and legumes, had higher rates of dental decay than those
who consumed more animal products. In his papers on vegetarianism,
Abrams presents archaeological evidence that supports this finding:
skulls of ancient peoples who were largely vegetarian have teeth
containing caries and abscesses and show evidence of tuberculosis and
other infectious diseases (102). The appearance of farming and the
increased dependence on plant foods for our subsistence was clearly
harmful to our health.
Finally, it is simply not possible for our prehistoric ancestors to
have been vegetarian because they would not have been able to get
enough calories or nutrients to survive on the plant foods that were
available. The reason for this is that humans did not know how to cook
or control fire at that time and the great majority of plant foods,
especially grains and legumes, must be cooked in order to render them
edible to humans (103). Most people do not know that many of the plant
foods we consume today are poisonous in their raw states (104).
Based on all of this evidence, it is certain that the diets of our
ancestors, the progenitors of humanity, ate a very non-vegetarian diet
that was rich in saturated fatty acids.